My Trip To California!!!

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My Trip To California!!!
By. Carrie Berkstresser
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At The Airport In Alabama
Or day one
This picture is of my mom and me (to the left)
at the Montgomery Airport. Dad took a picture of
my whole group. (below) After saying goodbye I
loaded the plane and took off to California.
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In The California Airport.
Or day one continued
Once my plane reached California we waited a
while for the rest of the group to arrive. This
was my delegation leader Mrs. Leah. (to the left)
Once everyone was there we went to California
Pizza Kitchen and ate supper.
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After we ate supper we headed to the dorms, where
we stayed the first three days and later, the
last two days.
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Day TWO!!!
On this day we started by going to the Marine
Headlands. There we learned that the way kelp
floats is that it has an air bubble at the bottom
of it. (below, right) Then we headed to hike to
the light house. On the way I took a pretty
picture off the side of the hill. (below middle)
When we were almost there we came to a tunnel.
(left) It was dug so they could take the 1,000
bulb to the light house without breaking it.
Before we could get to the lighthouse, we had to
cross a bridge. (above left) Only two people
could cross at a time! After the light house we
went to Muir Woods. It is the home of the Banana
Slug, and I got to kiss one! (above right) Muir
Woods is were we found the Redwood trees. You can
see me standing in a hollowed Redwood. (bellow
right) Day two was very exciting. I had a ton of
fun!!!!!!!
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Day Three
Today we went to the state capitol. The first
thing I noticed was the painting on the top of
the dome. (top left) I also saw a statue (top
right) that caught my eye. We got to explore the
capitol building which doubled as a museum. I saw
an old newspaper from when the earthquake hit San
Francisco. It was fascinating. I also saw rooms
that looked like they had come from the 1800s!
Then we headed to a conference room. There we met
some people who worked for Governor
Schwarzenegger. It was very interesting.
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TRAVELING!!! Day Four
On day four we left San Francisco and went to our
first campground. It was very exciting there. We
got to set up our own tents! It was awesome! That
night we told ghost stories and roasted
marsh-mallows. When bed time came we slept under
the stars! It was peaceful, and a beautiful sight
to fall asleep to.
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DAY FIVE!!!
On day five we went to the Hetch Hetchy Dam. On
the way we saw a beautiful waterfall. (right)
Once we reached the dam we walked half way across
and I saw the lake (below) and a rainbow.(left)
They were amazing, quite a sight to see. After we
left we went to see the sequoias. We walked the
two mile round trip to the tunnel tree. On the
way we saw a tree wide enough for a car to go
through. (below right) on the bottom left you can
see me leaning against the tunnel tree.
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Day Six
Today we did the most challenging thing of all. A
seven mile round trip to the top of the Vernal
falls. It was quite a challenge. We started the
day by driving to the heart of Yosemite National
Park. Then we walked to the mountain and started
hiking. About a mile into our hike we stopped to
eat the bag lunches we had brought with us. The
leaders let us wade in the river until we started
moving again. We hiked for about another two
hours or so and we had finally reached the top.
When we were at the top they let wade in the
river again. As I waded in the river, I slipped
into a hole and got soaked! Then we started our
descent. It was a slippery trip down. When we
were finally off the mountain the leaders let us
go to the gift shop. Then they ordered pizza. We
got an ice-cream cone for dessert, a rare treat.
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Day Seven!!!
On day seven we went to Mono Lake. We started the
day by packing up our camping things and driving
away from Yosemite. Once we were at Mono Lake we
met a guide who took us on a trail around the
lake. She told us about the brine shrimp that
live in the lake. She also told us that Mono Lake
has three times more salt than the ocean. The
guide let us know about something called tufa.
Tufa is the large white towers of rock seen all
around Mono. It formed years ago when Mono Lake
was much higher than it is now. Another cool
trait to Mono is the alkaline fly. It lays it
pupa on the bottom of the rocks in Mono Lake, and
we got to eat one of the pupa! They tasted like
very salty chicken.
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Day Eight
On day eight we went to Bodie, the ghost town. It
was very interesting. We started at the front
entrance. There were two large things that looked
like elevators there and the guide told us they
were used in the gold rush to send miners down
into the mine shafts. We then headed to the jail.
They sent us into the jail in groups of five. I
was in the first group to go into the jail. It
was very interesting inside. I saw the different
jail cells and the many rooms. The guide told us
about a group of vigilantes called 601.Six feet,
zero jury, one rope. Then we broke up into
smaller groups and headed in different
directions. My group went to the graveyard. Then
we looked at all the different houses. They were
very fascinating. After that we went to the
museum. Then we met up with the rest of the group
and ate lunch. When we were eating, I got scared
by a seagull who wanted my sandwhich.
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Day Nine
On day nine we were at Kirkwood and we got to
climb a rock wall. Im was in the group that got
to climb the rock wall first. It was fun. I was
the first girl to reach the top of two of the
hardest walls they had. After that we went and
ate lunch. We waited about 30 minutes then we
went horseback riding. I was the least
experienced rider there so I got the horse that
was easiest to ride, Cody. He was old and calm
and he knew the trail so all I had to do was ride
him and kick him to make him move. That day was
very fun.
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Day Ten
On day ten we went to Lake Tahoe. It was very
exciting and fun. One of our leaders said whoever
could dunk him would get a free ice-cream, so
everyone tried to dunk him but no one was able
to. The water in the lake was just the right
temperature. I played in the sand with my friend
Savanna. We made a sand castle. I dug a small
hole with a trench leading to the water so it
would fill up. I called it Lake Tiny. After
playing in the water all day, we went to Charos
for supper. We then went to the gift shop. After
shopping a while we went home to Kirkwood.
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Day Eleven
On day eleven we head back to San Francisco. On
the way back to the dorms were we will be
staying, we stop at the Exploratorium. As we
headed in, we saw a wedding in progess on the
beautiful explorsaturium grounds. There I
partnered up with Savanna and we explored the
giant building. We stopped at the gift shop
before leaving. They had many exciting things
there.
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Day Twelve
On day twelve we started by riding a ferry of to
Alcatraz. While still on the boat I took two
pictures of the city. (below right, right middle)
The main building on the island was very large.
(below middle) We then did an audio tour of the
prison. Then we headed to the fishermans wharf.
We did a lot of shopping and ate lunch.
Afterwards we rode the cable car to the cable
car museum. While riding the cable car, I took a
picture off the side of it. (top right) After
exploring the cable car museum we walked to the
fortune cookie factory. It was fascinating. Then
we went to a Chinese restaurant and ate supper.
After that we went and did a lot of shopping. We
had to walk back to the vans. On the way I took a
picture of the sunset over the golden gate
bridge. (bottom right)
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Day Thirteen
On day thirteen we went to Stinson Beach. There I
started my day surfing. My group fitted ourselves
into wetsuits and headed to the beach. The
director went over the rules with us, then we
went into the water. Every time I tried I fell
off, then the last time I stayed on all the way,
with a LITTLE help from the director!! Then we
started to boogie board. It was easier than
surfing. One time I completely jumped over
another kid! Then we got to play on the beach. I
dug two holes and with the help of my friends we
dug them so deep I could stand in them and you
could only see me from my chest up! We had a
tunnel connecting the two. Soon we collapsed the
tunnel and I laid in the two holes and they
buried me so you could only see my face. To the
left you can see my friend, Sheily. I had a blast
at Stinson Beach.
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Headed Home
Its time to go home. The trip to Houston was
long , but I watched the movie they played and it
helped with the time. Then while waiting in the
Houston airport, since our plane was delayed, a
boy accidentally set of the fire alarm! That woke
us up. We then rode the hour long plane ride to
Montgomery! There I was the first person to walk
through the gate and had a joyous reunion with my
family.
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THE END!!!!